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Maryland Jury Convicts Man Of Sex Offenses, Kidnapping

LAUREL, Md. (AP) — A Howard County jury has convicted a Laurel man of kidnapping and sex offenses for a 2016 incident involving a Loyola University student who passed out during a birthday celebration in Baltimore.

Jurors took one hour Friday to convict Edward Witherspoon of Laurel. He faces up to 70 years in prison when he is sentenced in September. Prosecutors say he was also convicted last month in a separate trial in which he was accused of sexually assaulting a young woman he picked up in Fells Point.

Prosecutors say that in the trial that ended Friday a 20-year-old freshman student began a birthday celebration with vodka shots before heading to downtown Baltimore. Prosecutors say she became separated from her roommates and blacked out. Prosecutors say she woke up in Witherspoon’s bed.